Susanna Ryckman was born in January 1737. She was the daughter of Schenectady residents Wilhelmus and Anna Wyngaert Ryckman. She seems to have lived in Albany with her older sister, Hester, and in conjunction with the family of her brother, Pieter Ryckman, a prominent trader and Indian agent. In 1799, her personal property was valued at $200.

Never married and long-lived, the Ryckman sisters were part of an increasingly visible minority that emerged in Albany during the era of the American Revolution.

Following the death of her sister and brother, she lived in a small home at 4 Beaver Street. A pewholder, "Susan" joined the Second Dutch Reformed Church in 1815. "Miss Susan Ryckman" died on September 3, 1821 "after a lingering illness which she bore with christian fortitude." She was in her eighty-forth year. Her will passed probate on September 7.